Why She Could Never Forget Him
by KayCal
Summary: We all know Annabeth ran away at seven, and she never could think of Luke as a traitor. Relive Annabeth's memories from her journey with Thalia and Luke, all the way up until Percy crosses the camp border. T for swearing from Luke. Hints at Thalia/Luke.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So this is my new story about Annabeth's journey with Luke and Thalia to camp. I'm working on this one and my other story Leo's Life at the same time, so sorry if the updates are a little slower than normal. All rights to Rick.**

_Annabeth sat under a tree with Percy after the Titan War. She was glad she told Luke she loved him like a brother, because ever since Percy came along, that was how she felt. But Percy would always remember Luke as an evil traitor, slave to Kronos. But Annabeth couldn't help but remember the guy he used to be.._

Annabeth Chase always knew she was a special little girl.

She could read and write and do math better than anyone else in her grade, and was always well behaved. You could just tell by looking at her that her grey eyes shined with intelligence way past her age. She was a special girl in other ways too, and her step mother hated her for it.

Annabeth's plan was to run away.

Seven year olds shouldn't be planning their escape from home. They should be at home, playing games, eating ice cream, and watching tv. But Annabeth knew she wasn't wanted at home. When the monsters (she decided they must be monsters, because there was no other explanation) came around, her step mother would scream at her for putting her kids in danger.

She went home that day, like any student would, then went up to her room. She had told her parents she was doing homework, but she was really packing a little bag to take with her.

She got in her pajamas after dinner, tied her long blonde curls back, and went to bed. At about one o'clock, when she was sure everyone was asleep, she slipped out of her room, down the stairs, and through the door and began running down the street. She had left a note for her dad, telling him how she was going to go find more kids like her. She hoped he knew what she meant, because she had no clue where she was going. A voice in her head kept telling her to go to New York.

In her supplies were food, books, and a hammer. The hammer was mainly to fight off any monsters, and was gripped firmly in her hand. She made her way into an alley, when she heard voices.

She quickly ducked behind a card board box. The voices were definitely that of a boy and a girl, but Annabeth couldn't be sure if they were monsters or not. She heard them start to come down the alley, and now she thought for sure they were monsters.

"Do you hear something?" the girl asked.

"Yeah, let's go check it out, this way." The boy said.

When they walked down the alley, she flew out from behind the box with her hammer.

"Woah kiddo!" the boy yelled. He was tall, probably about fourteen years old, with blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Are you? You're not monsters?" she asked.

"Nope, we're monster fighters too." He said.

"The alley way in Virginia is no place for a kid. Where are you from?" the girl with black hair and bright blue eyes asked. Annabeth guessed she was about 12 years old.

"I ran away. My family doesn't like me."

"Well then, why don't you come with us? We'll keep you safe. I'm Luke, and this is Thalia."

"Well, if your monster fighters too, okay." She said.

"Here, why don't you take this? Works much better than a hammer." Luke said, handing Annabeth a bronze dagger. "We can be our own family now okay?"

"Promise?" Annabeth asked.

"Promise."

**A/N: Did anyone else notice that Luke was about 23 when he died? Because in the book it said he was 14 when Annabeth was seven. And since she was 16 in the last book, that makes him 23.**


	2. Chapter 2

Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth had made it three days without seeing any monsters.

Luke had explained all about the god's and that they sometimes they had children who were half-gods.

"So your mommy was never around either?" Annabeth asked.

"No, I actually lived with my mom. So did Thalia. Her dad is Zeus, and I'm pretty sure my dad is Hermes." Luke replied, but both of the older kids got a little grumpier.

"Who's my mommy then?"

"Judging by the grey eyes and the fact you're so smart, I would say you're a daughter of Athena."

"She's the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy." Thalia threw in.

"Cool." Annabeth said. They walked into a small coffee shop, and Luke went to order some hot chocolates. He came back just a moment later, and said a waitress was going to bring them.

A few minutes later, a girl that looked about Luke's age walked up holding their order. Annabeth thought she was pretty, and judging by the look on Luke's face, he did too. She had long brown hair and green eyes, was only about an inch shorter than Luke, and had more freckles than Thalia.

"Here's your chocolates, love." She said, with a hint of an accent.

"Uh.. um.. Thanks.." Luke stammered out, still staring at her. Thalia finally notice Luke, and went to kick some sense into him. Unfortunately her foot missed by a little, and she ended up kicking the waitress.

_Clang. _

"Ow!" she exclaimed.

"Oh my gods, sorry umm.."

"Teresa."

"Yea, sorry Teresa." Thalia apologized, and Teresa walked away.

"What the hell was that for Thalia?" Luke asked.

"Foot slipped."

"Yea right, I'll believe that when-"

"Why did her leg make a metal clang sound?" Annabeth asked.

"What?" Thalia and Luke both looked at her.

"Her leg. It went clang when Thalia kicked her."

"We're leaving. Now." Thalia ordered, but Luke was already back talking to Teresa.

"So, do you live around here?" he had asked her.

"Oh, no. I come from down under. Way down under." She replied. Then the scariest thing Annabeth had ever seen, happened. Teresa's hair erupted in flames, her faced drained of colour, she grew fangs, and her legs were metal and donkey.

Teresa was a monster.

"Luke!" Thalia yelled. She went to attack the monster while Luke just stood there with a dreamy look on his face. While Thalia fought the monster, Annabeth grabbed Luke's hand and ran out the door. Thalia came out seconds later, panting.

"Didn't kill her.. erupted in flames.." she said between breaths.

Luke finally snapped out of his trance.

"What?" he asked.

"Luke you idiot! She was an _empousa. _A she demon! She was about to kill you! How could you have been so stupid!" Thalia yelled at him, almost on the brink of tears.

"I..I'm sorry, Thals.. I didn't know.."

"I don't think he did realize, Thalia. She must have had him in some kind of trance. He did have a really glazed look in his eye. I bet it didn't affect us because we're girls, and they only put boys in a trance." Annabeth piped up.

Thalia pondered this for a minute. "I guess that makes sense. Annabeth, you are definitely Athena's kid. Let's go before she comes back."

She walked off at a fast pace, Luke right next to her. Annabeth hung back just a little. She could tell he was still apologizing in a whisper by the way his lips were moving.

Annabeth wasn't worried about Thalia not forgiving him though. They were a family, and you never, ever give up on family.

_Daughter of Athena. Goddess of Wisdom. Luke's a son of Hermes, I wonder what he's the god of.. I guess I can ask Luke later… And Thalia, she's the daughter of Zeus, the leader, just like she is. I guess I could get used to this. _Annabeth thought, as she skipped after Thalia and Luke as they looked for shelter for the night.

_Tell them to go to New York, Annabeth. You'll all be safe in New York. _The older voice whispered to her. Annabeth wasn't aware, but her mother was watching over her and her friends on their journey. 


	3. Chapter 3

Thalia had gotten hurt.

The group had encountered a monster as soon as they crossed the border into Connecticut. Luke had killed it, but not before it had gotten a good swipe at Thalia's leg.

"Come on, I know where we can go to fix you up." Luke mumbled, almost uncertainly.

Thalia seemed to have understood though, "No Luke, you said you'd never go back."

"Thals, you're hurt. We have to go." Luke draped Thalia's arm over his shoulder, and Annabeth held her hand for support. They made their way up to a house, and Luke stopped.

"Home, sweet home." He said sarcastically. Annabeth looked at the house more closely. It had a decent sized yard, with a swing set in the front. Annabeth didn't really see why Luke would've ever left.

Then she met Luke's mom.

When she opened the door, and saw Luke, she had been ecstatic. The fragmented look of her eyes and crazy hair made her look a little odd though, Annabeth had thought. She noticed Thalia's leg, and ushered them inside.

She began to fix up Thalia's leg as soon as they had sat down in the kitchen. She handed Annabeth a cookie, but it was burnt.

Then Annabeth noticed the sandwiches.

It was really gross, they were all piled there, green and moldy.

Things got worse when Luke's dad showed up.

He took Luke into the living room, to talk to him. It was the first time Annabeth had ever seen one of the gods, and she was shocked. Hermes looked like any old mailman would, with the exception that his shoes had wings.

She had finally asked Luke the day before what Hermes was the god of. He had told her he was the god of thieves and travelers, plus many other things. Luke had also told her about the caduceus, and the flying shoes.

Luke got sort of upset, when Annabeth asked if he had ever seen him. He had told her no, and she took that to mean the conversation was over.

But now Luke was finally meeting his dad, but he didn't seem one bit pleased about it. Annabeth saw their conversation turn into a shouting match.

Thalia looked at her, and shook her head. Annabeth knew why she hadn't wanted to come in the first place. When Luke came into her line of sight, Annabeth held up one of the burnt cookies and mouthed _can we go now?_

The hardened look in Luke's eyes softened a bit. He seemed to remember that Annabeth and Thalia were here too.

"Let's go guys." He said.

Annabeth helped Thalia up, and the three of them left the house. Annabeth heard Luke's mom crying, and knew that Hermes was going to stay there and talk to her.

"I'm sorry, Luke." Thalia said.

"It's fine, let's just go." Luke said, still looking at the horizon. Annabeth felt sorry for Luke. While Thalia was saying something about his mom having 'fits' Annabeth finally understood what had happened.

Luke's mom was mad.

And he blamed his dad for it.


	4. Chapter 4

**All rights to Rick. Read and review. **

The group made their way through the forest, heading north. Annabeth had told them about the voice telling her to go north to New York, and Thalia had agreed it was probably a good idea.

They eventually reached the border. They crossed into New York, and immediately received a message. The air shimmered in front of them, and a middle aged man appeared in the mist.

"Hello, children." The man said.

"Does anyone else see the guy in the air?" Luke asked.

"Yep, he's there. Hello mister." Annabeth said.

"I see you three have made it to New York. I'm sending someone to collect you and bring you to camp. I assume you are aware that your demigods?"

"Camp? What camp? And yeah, we already know one of our parents is an Olympian." Thalia replied.

"Do you know your parentage?" the man asked.

"For the most part. My dad's Zeus, Luke's is Hermes, and we're pretty sure little Annabeth's mom is Athena." Thalia replied.

"Zeus, Hermes, and Athena. You three are definitely pretty powerful. We will be sending a satyr to collect you, his name is Grover."

Annabeth didn't know what a satyr was, and she didn't think Thalia and Luke knew either. All they knew was he was taking them to some camp.

"Mister, who are you? And why do we have to go to a camp?" Annabeth asked.

"Very good questions, dear. I am Chiron, and you are coming to camp to live and train safely with other demigods."

"Safely? As in no more monsters?" Luke asked.

"Monsters can't get inside the camp border, so you will be completely safe at camp. With the exception of Ms. Thalia here, you will stay in a cabin with your siblings, and live a semi normal life." Chiron replied.

"I don't have any siblings?" Thalia asked.

"No, dear. You are the first child of the Big Three to be born since before World War II, but we'll get more into that when you arrive. Good bye now." Then he was gone. The three kids stood in shock for a while, then decided to start moving.

"We better find somewhere to stay until this Grover guy finds us." Luke said, and Annabeth could tell he was still upset with the encounter with his parents just days earlier.

They set up camp, like they had so many times before, and Annabeth went to sit next to Luke on his sleeping bag.

"It's okay Luke, we'll be safe soon. No more running, no more monsters, just living with kids like us. That man even said that we have brothers and sisters." Annabeth told him.

Luke looked at her and sighed. "I know kiddo, but we're still pretty far away, what if we don't all make it? Thalia has already been hurt once."

"We'll make it, and then we'll be safe. I promise." Annabeth said. She stood up and walked over to her own sleeping bag. She crawled in and tried to go to sleep, but she couldn't. She heard Thalia walk over to Luke and they started whispering to each other.

"We can be safe, Luke. Safe and sound."

"Yeah, but what happens when we get there? We'll all be separated, and you'll be alone. I'm so used to having you two around, on our own, fighting our way through life."

"I won't be completely alone; you and Annie will still be there. We'll be training to fight properly, and we'll get food and shelter. It'll be perfect."

And after that, they kept whispering, but tiredness finally caught up with Annabeth and she drifted off to sleep. _Safe and sound, we'll be safe and sound._


	5. Chapter 5

The trio wandered around a park in New York, waiting for this Grover guy to show up. Annabeth figured he'd probably be driving a fancy car, be tall, and look like he could fight monsters any day.

Annabeth and Luke were sitting on a fountain, while Thalia stood in front of them. They all had ice pops that Luke had stolen.

"Excuse me? Are you Thalia?" A curly haired boy asked from behind.

"Um, yea."

"I'm Grover. Grover Underwood. I'll be your 'protector' while we head up to camp."

"You're Grover?" Luke asked. Annabeth understood why he was questioning him. Grover looked about thirteen years old, with a mild case of acne, and he was shorter than Thalia. If this was their protector from monsters, then they better keep their knives ready.

"Um, yea. Listen, we really need to start heading to camp. I'll explain everything on the way."

The group set off minutes later, with Grover leading the way.

"So Grover, where is this camp?" Luke asked.

"Long Island. We should be there in a few days. Hopefully we don't run into any monsters. Your scent is pretty powerful, especially Thalia's."

"Sorry, we haven't had a chance to shower in a while." Thalia said.

"No not your actual smell, your demigod scent. The more powerful your parent, the stronger the scent."

"What goes on at camp Grover? Annabeth asked.

"Well, it's called Camp Half-Blood, and we've got about fifty demigods there right now. There are cabins for the Olympians like Aphrodite, Athena, Hermes, Ares, and so on. Most of them have about ten campers, except for cabins one, two, three, and eight."

"Why are they empty?" Luke asked.

"Well, you get sorted by your godly parent. One and two are Zeus and Hera, and right now Thalia is the only living child of Zeus. Hera is the goddess of marriage, so that means no demigod children. Cabin three is the Poseidon cabin. As far as we know there are no children of Poseidon, and there haven't been since World War II. Cabin eight is Artemis' cabin, and she is the eternal virgin so that also means no kids. She does have a group of immortal female hunters that stay in there every now and again, but it's mostly just an honorary thing."

"How come Poseidon and Zeus haven't had any kids, well except me I guess, since World War II?"

"World War II was basically a battle between the Big Three's children, the Big Three being Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, so after the war they took an oath saying they wouldn't have any more kids, because the kids were just too powerful. That oath of course has now been broken by Zeus, but we're pretty sure Poseidon and Hades have kept it. Chiron once said something about a big prophecy, but don't ask me- I'm not an oracle."

"So what your saying is that I shouldn't even be alive?" Thalia asked, "Is that why so many monsters attack me?"

"Yea, kinda.. sorry, Thalia." Grover said.

"So when we get to this camp, what do we do?"

"Oh, we mainly train demigods to fight so when they go into the real world they're ready. The Demeter kids also have strawberries that we sell. Let's see… There's also a rock wall, arts and crafts, canoeing, sword fighting, capture-the-flag, oh and the food is amazing!"

"That sounds really fun!" Annabeth squeaked.

"So Grover, why did they send you? I mean, no offense, but you look younger than me." Luke said.

"They send satyrs out to collect demigods, and they decided it was time for my first assignment. But don't worry, I'm older then I look."

"How old are you?" Annabeth asked.

"Oh, about 23." After that they walked in silence for a little bit, but then Annabeth broke the silence,

"Grover, what's a satyr?"

"I thought you guys knew. Here I'll show you." Grover kicked off his shoes, and revealed his…. Hooves. Grover wasn't human.

"You're half goat!" Annabeth exclaimed.

"Glad you noticed, my friend Al said some kid called him half donkey last year. That's such an insult."

After the discovery, the group decided they might as well rest up for the night. They were already half way to camp, and figured they could easily get there by tomorrow evening.

As they were falling asleep, a voice whispered into Annabeth's ear.

_Annabeth, beware the one-eyed ones that cause fear by imitation. Do not fall into their trap Annabeth. _


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey sorry it's been so long. I had to get through the last few weeks of school, and now I'm officially settled into summer. I have quite a few ideas for this story… anyways, on with the story!**

The next day, they ran into some girls.

They were being followed by some monsters, and just as one was about to pounce on Thalia, silver arrows hit its neck, and it disintegrated.

"What the Hades?" Luke said.

Annabeth saw them before anyone else. There was a tall girl with dark hair, and a silver circlet braided into it. She was standing next to a girl who looked like she was 12, with auburn hair. The taller girl still had her bow aimed, which let Annabeth know that she had shot the monster.

"Thou should be careful whose name thee uses." The taller girl said, and lowered her bow.

"Um, not to be rude because you totally just saved my life, but who are you?" Thalia asked.

The auburn haired girl stepped forward. "I am Artemis, goddess of the hunt, and these are my Hunters."

Thalia and Luke bowed, while Grover said, "Oh thank you Lady Artemis!" and bowed so low his nose touched the ground.

"You are welcome, and you can also camp with us for the night if you would like."

"But, Milady, there is a boy accompanying them."

"That is alright, Zoe... we cannot just turn away two maidens because of their company."

Luke looked offended. He had gotten all worked up over nothing ever since they left his mom's house. Thalia also looked like she wanted to slap Zoe for being so rude.

"As you wish." Zoe said to Artemis. "The boy and the satyr can follow me to a tent."

"What about us?" Annabeth asked, pointing to herself and Thalia.

"You two can come with me." Artemis said.

Annabeth had been through a lot the past few months, but it didn't make sense to her why a 3000 year-old goddess looked the same age as Thalia.

They followed Artemis to a tent decorated with animal furs and a bunch of other stuff you might see in a hunter's den. Artemis sat down cross-legged on the rug, and motioned for Annabeth and Thalia to do the same.

"Might I ask you your names?" Artemis asked.

"I'm Thalia, and this is Annabeth."

"Excellent. And I'm assuming you are both aware that you are half-bloods, yes?"

"Yes, very aware Lady Artemis." Thalia replied again.

"Well Thalia, I'm assuming you are around twelve, correct?"

"Yes ma'am."

Artemis turned to Annabeth. Her silver eyes were kind of distracting, even more in the moonlight.

"And how old are you?" she asked.

"Seven."

"Ahh, a shame. You are still a bit too young."

"Too young for what?" Thalia asked.

"Well, I'm here to make you an offer Thalia. How would you like to be one of my Hunters?" She handed Thalia a brochure. Thalia took a few minutes to read over it, and then she handed it back to Artemis.

"Thank you for the offer, but I can't leave Annabeth…or Luke."

"Very well, but keep this just in case you change your mind."

Thalia took the brochure and shoved it in her backpack.

"You may leave now, I am sure Zoe will show you to a tent."

Zoe did show them to a tent, and Annabeth was now sure Thalia didn't like her. Annabeth sat in the tent while she heard Zoe and Thalia talking outside, and it wasn't hard to tell Thalia was mad.

Annabeth only heard a few bits of the conversation, but she had heard Zoe say a few things pretty clearly.

"That boy will just betray you. They all do! And don't even pretend that you do not know what I am talking about. I am certain the only reason you did not join up is because you like that boy!"

"Maybe I didn't join up because I couldn't leave Annabeth! You don't know me!" Thalia yelled.

"The young girl could have joined up if you had really wanted her too, Lady Artemis accepts all maidens willing to join the hunt, as long as she feels they are capable, and it is quite obvious that young Annabeth is capable."

"Whatever." Thalia said, and then Annabeth heard her approaching, so she lied down and pretended to be asleep.

_Poor Thalia. _She thought.

"_My sweet daughter, unfortunately I must say it would have been wiser if Thalia had joined the Hunt... You however could not have; your destiny lies elsewhere. Remember my warning about the one-eyed ones…" _The older voice whispered to her, and now Annabeth knew that it was her mom, and she was watching over them.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry about having to put Zoë's name like Zoe. I really didn't know how to make the dots thing, but thanks to someone on twitter I know how. Anyways, I have so many ideas for this story, I can't keep them straight. I also don't get many reviews, so I hope that doesn't mean you guys don't like this story...**

They left the Hunters' camp the next morning.

Artemis had apologized about not being able to help them on their journey, but wished them good luck finding camp.

Thalia left without really saying anything except thank you to Artemis, and Annabeth figured it was because of her fight with Zoë. Luke and Grover didn't say much either until they were about a mile away because the Hunters didn't like them.

"So what did Artemis want to talk to you about?" Luke asked.

Thalia didn't say anything, but Annabeth piped up, "Artemis wanted me and Thalia to join the Hunters."

"Wh-what?" Luke stammered, and almost stopped in his tracks. Even though she was only seven, she knew Luke would be devastated if he ever had to leave Thalia, or if she ever left him.

"Well," Annabeth continued, "I'm too young, and Thalia didn't want to."

"Oh.." Luke mumbled, but with obvious relief in his voice that they didn't even consider joining. The group slipped into silence until..

"Monsters." Grover said nervously.

"Where?" Thalia said and pulled out her shield -Aegis.

"Few miles back maybe. We should hurry, though. Camp is only about twenty miles away. We might make it by sundown if we hurry." He didn't sound so sure, and it made Annabeth wonder if he wasn't telling them how many monsters.

"How many?" Luke asked, pulling out his sword.

"Too many." Grover said, and the group once again slipped into silence once again.

Grover started leading them through strange paths, abandoned towns, and even along the edge of a river. Then they went back through the forest and entered a clearing.

"Uh, Grover? Where exactly are we?" Luke asked. There wasn't much around. It was almost like one of those old abandoned mining cities, but in the middle of the woods, with weird mixtures of buildings and caves. It looked like it had been deserted for a long time.

"Sorry guys, I have to keep going weird ways because there are so many monsters around. Every mile there seems to be more. You guys are pretty powerful half bloods, but there's really only one reason for this many. I hate to say this, but I think Hades found out about Thalia..." Grover replied.

"The god of the dead?" Annabeth asked. "Is he the one sending the monsters?"

Grover wouldn't reply, but his eyes said enough.

"We need to hurry." Luke determined, and the group picked up their pace. They walked through the town. The doorways were huge on some of the buildings, but they were all dark and looked like they had been rusted shut.

"Monster, ten feet up I think. Let's go in there until it passes." Grover suggested. He pointed at an abandoned warehouse-tunnel thing, and the group ran in there.

It was dark, and they quickly got split up. The whole thing was like some sort of maze. It felt like a horror movie.

Annabeth was running around, she could've sworn she heard two Thalias and two Lukes yelling. It made her a little sick because she didn't hear Grover, and hoped nothing had happened to him.

She may have been smart, but she was completely confused in this place. So confused, that at one point she thought she heard her own voice yelling for help.

She stumbled to the center of the maze, an what she saw horrified her.

It was about ten feet tall, wearing shaggy, dirty clothes, and he only had one eye in the middle of his head.

_"Beware the one-eyed ones..."_

She remembered her mother's warning. Of course, she had heard the warning two days in a row, and she never told Luke or Thalia. Thanks to her, they were stuck in a Cyclopes lair.

What she saw next made her blood run cold. Luke and Thalia were tied up, and the Cyclopes was yelling in different voices.

"Annabeth! Where are you come here!" it yelled in Thalia's voice.

"Annie! Where are you!" he yelled again in Luke's voice.

Hearing the giants use her friends' voices made her even more terrified. She knew if she hadn't seen him do it, she would've run straight into his trap.

She ducked behind a box, and tried to make a plan.

Then her dad called her.

"Annabeth? I miss you do much, are you here? Come here please so we can go home?"

There was no way her dad was here. He was miles away. It must've just been another trick.

_But how did they know his voice?_ she thought. _Could they read minds?_ These things terrified her, but she had to save her friends.

She moved out from behind the box, and attempted to make eye contact with Thalia. She chose Thalia because it looked as if Luke was on the verge of consciousness.

Thalia saw her, and Annabeth put her finger to her mouth, telling Thalia to stay quiet. Then she mouthed, "Do you have your knife?" Thalia nodded. Annabeth let out a sigh of relief.

"Get ready." She mouthed again, and then pulled out her own knife.

She had a plan, but it wasn't exactly a good one.

From behind the box, she yelled "Hey ugly!" then waited for the Cyclopes to come close. When he came in sight, she did the only rational thing. She stabbed it in the toe and trusted her knife upward.

"OW!" It boomed. But Annabeth had given Thalia just enough time to cut herself free. When Annabeth took the knife out, the monster started to dissolve.

_oh yeah, forgot they do that._ she thought.

When it was completely gone, she ran to help Thalia cut Luke loose. They dragged him between them, which was pretty hard because Luke was almost a foot taller than Thalia, who was half a foot taller than Annabeth.

They finally got to the doorway, where they ran into a frantic searching Grover.

"Thank the gods! I smelled a Cyclopes, but.. Oh no, I'm such a horrible protector!" he yelled, and led them through the doorway.

When they were a good half a mile away, they hastily fed Luke some ambrosia that Grover had brought, and he was good enough to walk again.

"Wh-what happened?" he stammered. "I heard, I heard Thalia and Annabeth screaming, then I was hit on the head, and now I'm here?"

"We're safe now Luke, Annabeth saved us." Thalia told him, and explained about Annabeth killing the monster.

"Uh guys, I hate to kill the mood. But, while we were there, the monsters almost caught up, and we still have five miles to go." Grover said, obviously panicked.

Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth all looked at each other. Luke looked ready to kill any monster that came their way, but Thalia had a look of panic like she thought they couldn't make it.

"I suggest we run. Now." Thalia stated, and the group took off into the woods, five miles away from safety.


	8. Chapter 8

The monsters were gaining fast. The group was still running, but barely fast enough. They could see the hill that led into camp, but it was still a hundred feet away.

Annabeth had cuts on her arm from a dagger one of the monsters was carrying, and Thalia's leg was bleeding from a hellhound. Luke had minor scratches, but was covered in dust and slime from all the monsters he had killed.

Grover was ahead by about five feet, yelling for them to hurry up, but it was pretty useless. Annabeth thought, _This is it. Seven miserable years, just to die with my new family because of some over-sized mutts._

Packs of hellhounds, and tons of other monsters Annabeth didn't know were chasing them. There had to be about a hundred.

One thing is for sure though, it was definitely Hades that had found them, because all three Furies were after them.

After another swipe to the leg, Annabeth could barely walk. Luke was basically dragging her while trying to fight off monsters with his other arm. Grover was attempting some nature magic, but it wasn't going very well, and Thalia was spearing anything that came within reach.

But they were losing their fight.

"Luke!" Thalia yelled. "Take Annabeth and go!"

"I'm not leaving you here, Thalia! We do this together!" he yelled back.

"It's me they want! Annabeth is already hurt, just go Luke. I'm not having you two die because of me."

"But Thal-"

"No Luke. Go. Please."

Luke picked up Annabeth, just as Thalia electrocuted twenty hellhounds.

"I'll-I'll come back! Just let me get Annabeth safe! Hold on Thals!" Then he turned to Grover. "Help me with Annabeth."

"No Luke!" Annabeth screamed, tears running down her face. "We can't leave Thalia! They'll kill her! No.. No.."

"Thalia's tough. Let's just get you into camp, and I'll come back and help her."

"No, Luke. She won't make it! There's too many!"

"Please, Annabeth."

They crossed the border, and an earsplitting screech cut through the air.

It was Thalia.

The monsters were too much. She was dying.

"THALIA!" both Luke and Annabeth yelled. Luke dropped Annabeth inside the border and went to help Thalia. Grover ran into the big blue house for help.

Annabeth couldn't move because of her leg. She was crying, yelling, and cursing the gods for doing this to her best friend, her older sister.

_What did we do to deserve this?_

Lightning struck where Thalia had been standing. It was so bright, both Luke and Annabeth had to shield their eyes.

When it cleared, all the monsters were gone, and so was Thalia. In her place was a pine tree, that Annabeth was sure wasn't there before, even though it looked like it had been there for years.

Before Annabeth blacked out, she was aware of two things.

Luke was crying.

And Thalia was gone.

**A/N: Wow, that one was pretty hard to write. The next few chapters after this may skip around in time a bit, but I'll be sure to let you know so it doesn't get too confusing. **


	9. Chapter 9

Annabeth woke up in a white room.

Her leg was bandaged, and all the cuts on her arm were gone.

_Is this a dream?_

She pulled herself out of bed, and left the room. When she got to the hallway, she saw and open door, and decided to go through that.

She was on the porch of the big blue house she had seen the night before. She saw the tree that had appeared when Thalia died.

"Why, you're awake." A kind voice said behind her. Annabeth turned around and saw a half-man, half-horse.

_A centaur._ She remembered.

"How long was I asleep, Mr. Centaur?" She asked.

"Only about 12 hours.. And please dear, call me Chiron."

"You're the guy that was floating in the air." She remembered. When they had got that message, she was the only one who hadn't seemed weirded out about it.

"That's correct. You're very bright."

"Thank you, Chiron. But where am I? Where's Luke?"

"Ah, yes. Young Mr. Castellan is talking with our director. Follow me." She had never heard any one address Luke as 'Mr. Castellan', and despite the situation, she almost wanted to laugh at how ridiculous it sounded. He made Luke sound grown-up.

Chiron led Annabeth around the porch where Luke was talking to a porky looking man.

"Annabeth!" Luke exclaimed when he saw her. She ran over and gave him a hug. "Are you okay?" he asked.

She just nodded. Seeing him reminded her that Thalia was gone, and she had started to get teary eyed.

"It's okay, Annabeth. We're safe now. Thalia-Thalia wouldn't want us to be so upset."

"Okay, Luke."

"Why, you must be Anniebell." The short man said.

"Annabeth." She corrected.

"Yes, well welcome to camp."

"Thanks Mr…."

"Mr. D"

"Thanks, Mr. D."

Mr. D went back to his magazine, and Chiron was telling Luke all about the camp. Annabeth tried to pay attention, but couldn't help watching the camp instead.

"Ms. Chase?" Chiron asked, snapping her back to reality.

"Can you just call me Annabeth?" she asked.

"Of course. Luke and I were on our way to see the Hermes cabin, would you please come too?"

"Sure." She replied. "But why the Hermes cabin."

"Well, that's where you stay until you have been officially claimed." That made sense. Luke had told her Hermes was the god of travelers, so it made sense that you got to stay in there until you were claimed.

They walked across the green to a brown cabin at the end. It had a caduceus painted on it, which meant that this was Hermes' cabin.

Annabeth didn't know much about all the gods, but she could figure out a few by guessing. The gold cabin had to be Apollo's, while the silver one must be Artemis'. The big cabins at the end had to be Zeus and Hera, while the one next to Zeus' with the sea shells must be Poseidon's.

She looked back at Chiron. "Welcome to Cabin 11." He stood outside the door, and called inside. "Matt?"

A tall kid with brown hair and hazel eyes came out of the cabin. "Yea, Chiron?"

"This is Luke and Annabeth, they arrived last night. Would you mind showing them around?"

"Sure, Chiron."

Chiron turned around to leave, but before he could go, something weird happened. A blue light glowed, and when Annabeth looked up, she saw that a glowing blue caduceus was shining above Luke's head.

"What's that?" Luke asked.

"Well, Luke You've just been claimed.." Chiron started.

"By Hermes. So my cabin is your cabin." Matt finished.

"I'll leave you two then." Chiron said, talking to Luke and Matt. "Annabeth, how about I show you around, instead. We'll leave Matt to tell Luke all about their dad."

ooOoo

"So Luke and Matt are related?" Annabeth asked after Chiron showed her the sword fighting arena.

"Yes, their father is Hermes, but they are only related on the godly side."

"That makes sense."

"Quite. Now, this is the rock climbing wall. It has real lava, and shakes, so get to the top quickly."

"Sounds…fun." She mumbled, intimidated by the huge thing in front of her.

"Yes, well I think you should wait a while before attempting that." Chiron chuckled after seeing the look on her face. "Over here, is the forest. Make sure you don't go in there alone, and when you do go in, go armed. The forest is stocked with monsters for practice."

"I think I've had enough monster fighting practice to last a life time." She said.

"Yes, you are the youngest camper we've ever had. But, that means you will have more time to train before going off into the real world."

"When do people go back?" she asked. She was hoping that Luke wasn't about to go back. She just lost Thalia, she couldn't lose Luke too.

"Some go back for college; others have stayed here until they are twenty." Annabeth let out a sigh of relief. She wouldn't be losing Luke anytime soon.

"I think that's enough for today. Go back to the Hermes cabin. They'll take you to dinner, and then the campfire. You might even get claimed tonight. If I don't talk to you again today, why don't you meet me at eleven tomorrow for Ancient Greek lessons?"

"Sounds like a plan, Chiron." She replied, then went skipping off back to the Hermes cabin.


	10. Chapter 10

Dinner with the Hermes cabin was fun. Annabeth wasn't the only undetermined kid in the cabin, which was good. At dinner she realized it was easy to tell who the children of Hermes were. They all had vaguely familiar features, and were the ones that joked around the most.

Being with the cabin of the god of thieves, meant that all her supplies were stolen for her. She got a sleeping bag, a camp t-shirt, and even a sheath for her dagger. One of the ten year-olds from the cabin had already learnt not to steal from her, though. He had tried taking a soda she had gotten from Matt, and ended up with a dagger at his throat. Even though she was seven, he learnt not to mess with her.

She had prayed at dinner to her mom, asking her to claim her, while she scraped off food into the fire.

After dinner, they headed off to the campfire where they sang songs and roasted marshmallows.

"Hey, Annabeth." Matt said.

"Hi, Matt. Is the fire supposed to be changing colours?"

He laughed, "Yea. It reflects the campers' mood." Annabeth looked at Matt, making sure he wasn't joking. Annabeth quickly learned that Matt was the biggest prankster at camp. He was also the oldest person in the Hermes cabin, at 17. He would be leaving to go to college next year. Some of the campers joked around that the camp would be much more peaceful when he left.

The camp fire was dwindling down when Chiron stomped his hoof on the ground, getting everyone's attention.

"Campers! Remember Capture-the-Flag is next Friday, and please don't release monsters from the forest." He looked straight at Matt, who smiled. "We welcome Luke Castellan, son of Hermes—" Luke stood up, and everyone said their hellos. Chiron continued, "And Annabeth Chase, to Camp." Now Annabeth stood up, and everyone said hi to her.

"You may now go back to your cabins, and remember if you break curfew, the harpies will eat you." Chiron smiled.

Campers got up and started going to their separate cabins. Annabeth was a little disappointed that she hadn't been claimed at the campfire, but at least she had a sleeping bag in the Hermes cabin.

"Hey, Annie." It was Luke. He was the only one she let call her that. "How do you like camp?"

"It seems fun." She replied. "Everyone is super nice, and treats each other like family."

"We are family Annabeth, and you do anything for family." He said, his eyes got misty, and Annabeth saw he was looking at the pine tree.

"We'll see her again someday, Luke."She said. Chiron had explained to Luke that morning, how instead of letting Thalia die, Zeus took pity on her, and had somehow turned her into the pine tree. Her life force had created a barrier around the camp that was stronger than before. Now no mortals, monsters, or weather could get in the camp without permission.

"I know Annabeth. Let's just hope it's not for a while."

She followed Luke into the Hermes cabin, and got into her sleeping bag.

"Goodnight, Annabeth." He said, and kissed her on the top of her head.

"Goodnight, Luke."


	11. Chapter 11

Dinner with the Hermes cabin was fun. Annabeth wasn't the only undetermined kid in the cabin, which was good. At dinner she realized it was easy to tell who the children of Hermes were. They all had vaguely familiar features, and were the ones that joked around the most.

Being with the cabin of the god of thieves, meant that all her supplies were stolen for her. She got a sleeping bag, a camp t-shirt, and even a sheath for her dagger. One of the ten year-olds from the cabin had already learnt not to steal from her, though. He had tried taking a soda she had gotten from Matt, and ended up with a dagger at his throat. Even though she was seven, he learnt not to mess with her.

She had prayed at dinner to her mom, asking her to claim her, while she scraped off food into the fire.

After dinner, they headed off to the campfire where they sang songs and roasted marshmallows.

"Hey, Annabeth." Matt said.

"Hi, Matt. Is the fire supposed to be changing colours?"

He laughed, "Yea. It reflects the campers' mood." Annabeth looked at Matt, making sure he wasn't joking. Annabeth quickly learned that Matt was the biggest prankster at camp. He was also the oldest person in the Hermes cabin, at 17. He would be leaving to go to college next year. Some of the campers joked around that the camp would be much more peaceful when he left.

The camp fire was dwindling down when Chiron stomped his hoof on the ground, getting everyone's attention.

"Campers! Remember Capture-the-Flag is next Friday, and please don't release monsters from the forest." He looked straight at Matt, who smiled. "We welcome Luke Castellan, son of Hermes—" Luke stood up, and everyone said their hellos. Chiron continued, "And Annabeth Chase, to Camp." Now Annabeth stood up, and everyone said hi to her.

"You may now go back to your cabins, and remember if you break curfew, the harpies will eat you." Chiron smiled.

Campers got up and started going to their separate cabins. Annabeth was a little disappointed that she hadn't been claimed at the campfire, but at least she had a sleeping bag in the Hermes cabin.

"Hey, Annie." It was Luke. He was the only one she let call her that. "How do you like camp?"

"It seems fun." She replied. "Everyone is super nice, and treats each other like family."

"We are family Annabeth, and you do anything for family." He said, his eyes got misty, and Annabeth saw he was looking at the pine tree.

"We'll see her again someday, Luke."She said. Chiron had explained to Luke that morning, how instead of letting Thalia die, Zeus took pity on her, and had somehow turned her into the pine tree. Her life force had created a barrier around the camp that was stronger than before. Now no mortals, monsters, or weather could get in the camp without permission.

"I know Annabeth. Let's just hope it's not for a while."

She followed Luke into the Hermes cabin, and got into her sleeping bag.

"Goodnight, Annabeth." He said, and kissed her on the top of her head.

"Goodnight, Luke."


	12. Chapter 12

Annabeth stayed year-round at camp every year.

She had a camp necklace with three beads on it, showing three years at camp. Her cabin had thrown her a birthday party that morning when she had turned ten. Marissa had given her some new clothes, and Malcolm gave her a book a book about her favourite subject- architecture.

She was sitting beneath Thalia's pine tree, reading her book when Luke walked up.

"Happy Birthday, Annabeth." He said, and held out a cupcake and a can of coke.

"Where'd you get those, Luke?" she asked when he sat down next to her.

"I borrowed them from the camp store?" he suggested.

"Nice try, Luke." She laughed. Over the years, he had grown more distant from her. He was seventeen now, and the head councilor of his cabin. He wanted to at least get a quest before he went back into the real world.

"Well, Miss I-know-everything," he smiled. "I also came over here to tell you something. If you want to hear it."

"What is it?"

"Three things actually. One, Chiron wants to see you."

"Why?"

"Well let's see," he started sarcastically. "It's your birthday, and he treats you more like a daughter than a camper. I wonder what he could possibly want to see you for?"

She laughed. "Okay, okay I get it, what else did you want to tell me?"

"I'm not leaving next year. Instead of college, I'm going to stick around here, and try to help out with the sword training. I happened to be pretty good with a sword."

"You also have a big ego." Annabeth reasoned. "What else did you want to say?"

"Oh, you know, I just got a quest from my dad. Nothing big."

"You what?" she yelled jumping up. She knew Luke had wanted a quest since he got here. "That's great! What is it?"

"I'm going to do the most advanced level of stealing a child of Hermes can do; steal and apple of immortality for the garden of the Hesperides."

"Wow." Annabeth said, sitting back down.

"I was actually on my way right now. I'll see you when I get back, but you have to give me a hug for good luck."

He stood up, and pulled Annabeth into a hug.

"Good luck, Luke." She said.

He gave her a kill on the cheek. "Happy birthday, again Annabeth. Now go see Chiron. I'll see you in a week." He said, shouldered his bag, and ran down the hill.

Annabeth was blushing, but she didn't know why. She hoped Luke would come back safe. With one last look at Thalia's tree, she took off to the Big House to find Chiron.

ooOoo

"Chiron?" she called. The Big House seemed empty, but she went to his office to see it he was there. He wasn't. She went upstairs to look for him. It didn't look like he could, climb the stairs, but Annabeth had learned not to underestimate Chiron. She couldn't find him, so she tried the attic. Maybe he was cleaning up there?

She climbed into the attic, and didn't see anything but some old memorabilia; then she saw the mummy.

Unsure why, she walked over to the mummy. She had been dead a long time; Annabeth guessed about fifty years. She was wearing a tie-dye dress, and had a bunch of necklaces around her neck. One of the necklaces was a pouch, and it was open.

"What's this?" Annabeth looked at the pouch. Inside was a roll of parchment. She carefully took it out and read it.

_A half-blood of the eldest gods,_

_Shall reach sixteen against the odds_

_And see the world in endless sleep,_

_The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap,_

_A single choice shall end his days_

_Olympus to preserve or raze_

Annabeth quickly stuffed the parchment back in the pouch and closed it. She ran out of the Big House, thinking about what the prophecy had said. A half-blood of the eldest gods had to be a child of the Big Three. The only problem was, _Thalia_ was the only child of the Big Three since World War II, and she was as good as dead. It was also pretty clear that the hero would only make it to sixteen, and their decision might destroy Olympus.

The worst part?

Annabeth had this gut feeling that the prophecy was going to happen soon. She had completely forgotten about meeting Chiron until she almost ran right into him.

"Annabeth, there you are. I've been looking for you! Happy birthday!"

"Th-thanks, Chiron." She replied shakily.

His expression turned to a concerned one. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just read something.. disturbing."

"What?" he asked.

Annabeth couldn't lie to Chiron. "A prophecy."

"Oh, dear. The one in the attic?"

Annabeth nodded.

"I thought I hid that one well, it doesn't matter now. What did you think?"

"Well I can't say it sounded too pleasant, and after I read it, I had this feeling it was coming true soon."

"Interesting." Chiron said. "Well, let's not dwell on that now. Happy Birthday, again. Now if you excuse me , I must be going to archery practice."

"Bye, Chiron."

ooOoo

That night, Annabeth had a dream about a boy with black hair, and green eyes. He was probably twelve years old, and he was holding a bronze sword. In the background she heard a voice say, "_A son of Poseidon.."_

**A/N: wow, I think this is one of the longest chapters I've written for this story.. **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Oh my gosh, I just read the first chapter of **_**Mark of Athena**_**. It is way longer than what Rick read on You Tube. You have to check it out on the official Heroes of Olympus page.**

Luke came back from his quest a week later, like he had promised.

Annabeth was waiting by Thalia's Pine when she saw him coming up the hill.

"Luke!" she exclaimed, and ran down the hill. She tackled him in a hug. He half-heartedly hugged her back.

"Hey, Annie."

Then she saw his face.

"Oh, Luke.." His face was swollen on one side, and he had a deep gash down the side of his face. It wasn't fresh, but Annabeth could tell it was going to leave a nasty scar.

"Oh this, dragon got me. Thing was sleeping, but it decided to wake up just to take a chunk out of my face."

"Oh my gods.." Annabeth whispered. The important thing was that he was alive. Annabeth didn't think she could handle it if she had lost Luke.

"It's okay, I did manage to at least get him back."

"What do you mean?"

Luke reached into his bag and pulled out a claw. It was big and thick, and green on the end like it might have had poison on it.

"Is that..?"

"Yea."

"I bet he didn't like that.." Annabeth said, trying to break the tension in the atmosphere.

Luke cracked a smile, which looked pretty gruesome. "Well he gave me this, and I cut off the claw that did it."

"Wow."

"But hey, I'm alive."

"That you are. Come on, let's go back to camp. Those Aphrodite girls sure did miss you." She smirked, grabbed his hand, and they ran into camp.

Annabeth didn't know it until years later, but that quest changed Luke.

Annabeth just missed the signs.

**A/N: I know. It's short. Sorry. This was kind of just a filler chapter until I could come up with some more ideas. They're running out fast. Leave any comments in the review please.**


	14. Chapter 14

A year later, Marissa left for college.

She had been the only person to stay at camp for eight years straight. Everyone at camp knew her, and everyone loved her.

She was the only person that could get along with both the Ares kids and the Aphrodite kids. Chiron often said she was the one that stopped the councilors from fighting at the camp meetings.

Everyone in the Athena cabin cried when she left, but they were happy for her. She was going to Harvard with the blessing of their mom, to study to be an attorney. It made sense, she had amazing diplomatic skills.

Annabeth was the last one to say goodbye.

"Bye, Marissa. We're going to miss you! Come back and visit if you can." A now eleven year-old Annabeth told her. Marissa gave her a big hug.

"I'll try, Annabeth. You take care of yourself, okay?"

"Of course, Marissa."

"And if you need any help with anything," she said. "camp stuff," then she smirked, "or boy stuff. Just Iris message me."

Annabeth blushed, "Of course, Marissa."

"I'll see you around, Annabeth." Marissa said, and then walked down the hill, where Argus was waiting to take her to the airport.

For the second time, Annabeth felt like she had just lost an older sister. But just like with Thalia, she hoped it wasn't permanent.

ooOoo

"We need to decide, who will be the next councilor." Malcolm announced to the cabin.

"You're the oldest, Malcolm It should be you." Annabeth said.

"Plus you've been here for four years." Someone in the back called.

"But I'm not a year-rounder." Malcolm brought up. "I think it should be Annabeth."

"But she's only eleven!"

"She's been here longer than any of us. She knows this cabin inside and out."

Annabeth blushed at her brother's compliments. She heard murmurs of agreement from all around the cabin.

"Well then it's decided." Malcolm said. "Annabeth, you're the new head councilor." That was the funny thing about the Athena cabin, once someone brought up a good point, everyone saw reason, and agreed.

Annabeth smiled.

Her mom would be proud.

ooOoo

A week later, the Athena cabin got terrible news.

Marissa had been attacked by a sphinx at the library, and hadn't made it out.

She was only nineteen years old.

That news made Annabeth realize something. Out there in the real world, if you weren't always paying attention, if you let your guard down for just a minute, there was a good chance you were going to get attacked.

The mortal newspapers had said that Marissa died in a car crash. Annabeth knew that it wasn't the truth, but she kept the obituary anyways. She hung it on the wall next to her pictures with Thalia.

Two of the people that had felt like older sisters to her, were gone.

Why did the people she love always leave her?

_Annabeth, one day, someone will come along and stay with you. Don't fret, be patient. _Her mother had told her that night.

_Oh mom, I hope you're right.._


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I've been painting my room, and my grandma is coming, and blah blah blah. Anyways, here's my update.**

Annabeth was one of the lucky few people that got to go to Olympus.

It was a few weeks after her twelfth birthday, which was the best birthday of her life. She had woken up to find a baseball cap on her camp trunk with a note.

_Dear Annabeth, Here is your birthday present. It is an invisibility cap. Use it well. –Athena_

So now, Annabeth carried the cap around with her everywhere.

Annabeth, Chiron and a few other campers were on their way to the Empire State building, where Olympus currently resided. She was sitting next to Luke, who seemed oddly nervous and quiet. Annabeth figured he was just nervous about seeing his dad. Things hadn't gone too well last time they were face to face.

Also along for the ride were Clarisse, the bully from the Ares cabin who Annabeth couldn't stand. She had a nice little ritual of sticking the new campers' heads in the toilets. Luckily she hadn't been around when Annabeth got to camp.

Also along was Katie Gardener from the Demeter cabin, who was yelling at the new campers, Travis and Conner Stoll. Travis and his younger brother Conner had come to camp two weeks earlier, and within ten minutes had pranked about five campers, and stolen from three. Needless to say, they were almost immediately claimed by Hermes.

The Stolls hadn't been invited on this trip, but they had hidden in the van, and weren't found until they were in Manhattan. Chiron said they could come, just because they had worked so hard to sneak in.

The van pulled up to the building, and Chiron ushered everyone inside.

"Now, everyone remember your manners, and your parents won't blast you to pieces." Chiron said so seriously, everyone but Annabeth looked worried. Annabeth could see the joking look in his eye.

The warning still managed to keep everyone else quiet. Luke looked even more panicked as they went up the elevator.

"It's okay Luke, Chiron was just joking." She said. Luke looked at her, and she could tell he was trying to keep a poker face, but Annabeth could see in his eyes that he was still panicking.

"I'm okay, I knew Chiron was just joking." He said.

"Okay then." Annabeth replied, but could tell he was lying.

_Why is he so worried?_

The elevator doors opened, and they stepped onto Olympus. It was the winter solstice, so there was a thin layer of snow covering most of the buildings.

Annabeth could have stopped and admired the architecture for hours, but Chiron rushed them along to the largest building of them all.

When they entered, all the gods turned and looked at them. Annabeth could see Zeus and Hera first, and something about Hera made Annabeth uneasy. Then she saw Poseidon, who was wearing fishing gear, and Mr. D, looking bored as always.

Apollo winked at her, Artemis nodded her head, and Ares was sharpening a knife. That made Annabeth step behind Luke. Her mother gave her a smile, and Demeter was mumbling about how all the campers needed more cereal, causing Hades to roll his eyes. Hephaestus didn't even look at the campers.

Hermes looked sad. Annabeth didn't know if it had something to do with Luke, but Annabeth felt sorry for him. He looked almost the same as when she had seen him years ago, but then again, he was immortal.

The last Olympian Annabeth looked at was Aphrodite. Aphrodite was of course beautiful, with long, curly brown hair, perfect makeup, and a dress. Aphrodite looked at Annabeth too, and gave her a knowing smile, which made Annabeth more uneasy than Hera had. Whenever the goddess of love smiled at you, you knew your life was going to get crazy soon.

"Greetings children." Zeus said, "I am Zeus. Welcome to the Olympian Council. Introduce yourselves, then have a seat around the hearth by Hestia."

Hestia waved at them.

"Let's start with… you." Zeus said, and pointed at Luke.

"Luke Castellan, son of Hermes." Luke said, then bowed to Zeus and his dad. They went in order down the line, ending with the Stolls. Then the group went and sat down in the guest chairs Zeus had conjured up for them.

The council was two hours long. Annabeth listened attentively the whole time, while everyone else got distracted. Maybe it wasn't so smart bringing a bunch of ADHD demigods to a formal meeting. Conner and Travis were sleeping on each other, Katie was weaving some flowers into a hat, and Clarisse was sharpening a knife. Annabeth looked over to see what Luke was doing, but his chair was empty. Annabeth figured he had just gone to the bathroom or something.

When the council was over, the group got up, bowed respectively to their parent, then left for the van where Argus was waiting.

"Where were you?" Annabeth asked Luke on the way back to camp.

He got that cornered animal look in his eyes again. "I- uh- went to the bathroom."

"Oh.." Annabeth replied, slightly embarrassed. She had sounded like an overprotective mother. She went back to staring out the windows. Manhattan had some interesting architecture, but Annabeth still thought she could make it look better.

The weather turned nasty fast. Huge storm clouds rolled in, and the thunder was so loud it shook the entire van. Then it started raining, hard and heavy, making Annabeth think that Argus wouldn't be able to see if he didn't have a hundred eyes.

They pulled up outside of camp, and everyone rushed for the border to avoid getting soaked.

"Chiron?"

""Yes Annabeth?"

"What's going on?"

"I don't know, I have to go make a call…"

**A/N: dun dun dun, someone is angry. I apologize that it seems like the time skips around a lot, but it's been a long day. Next chapter will be up sometime tomorrow. **


	16. Chapter 16

Annabeth found herself sitting under Thalia's pine with Grover one day near the end of summer. The weather had still been acting funny, but no one in camp seemed to have noticed.

Annabeth hadn't talked to Grover in a while, because he had blamed himself for Thalia's death, and tried to avoid her. Annabeth thought Luke blamed Grover too, but it was just because he blamed himself. Annabeth didn't blame him though, in fact in the past year, they had become friends.

"So Grover, what have you been up too?"

"Not much, Annabeth. I've been trying to get the council to give me a second chance ever since.." he trailed off.

"Grover, No one blames you for what happened."

"The council does."

"Well don't listen to those grumpy old goats."

He sighed. "Unfortunately, I do if I want to get my license."

"Please tell me they at least gave you another chance."

"They did."

"Well, where are you going?"

"It's this school called Yancy Academy. It's a school for troubled kids. The kid I'm going to watch is twelve, has ADHD, dyslexia, all the typical signs."

"I hate having those." Annabeth grumbled.

"I know. Oh, and he's been kicked out of more schools than I can count."

"Do you have an idea about his parentage?"

"No. but I swear the kid's picture startled Chiron. I think he said something about him looking like a mini Poseidon."

"What's he look like?"

"Dark hair, green eyes. That's all I could tell."

Annabeth thought back to the dream she had years ago. That boy had the same hair and eyes.

_He looks like a mini Poseidon?_

Annabeth thought back to the prophecy. Something told her that it was all related, but she didn't know. Annabeth HATED not knowing things.

"Oh, we at least know his mom is mortal."

"Probably one of Hermes' kids then. That makes the whole being kicked out of schools thing work."

"Yea."

ooOoo

Two weeks after the conversation, Grover left for Yancy.

Since it was a boarding school, she never saw him after that, but she did see him once over Christmas break. Annabeth didn't get to talk to him, though. She and Luke were some of the only people at camp during the winter. Only ten campers were year-rounders.

When she had seen Grover, he had seemed panicked. He ran straight into the Big House to talk to Chiron without stopping to even look at anyone else. Annabeth had never eavesdropped, but Grover looked so panicked, Annabeth had to figure out what was going on. She put on her cap, and went up to the door.

"Sir," she heard Grover start. "You have to come to the school. I think Percy is powerful, like Big Three powerful."

_Percy must be the kid he was going to protect._

"There's more sir, I think- I think the algebra teacher is a Kindly One."

Annabeth's eyes widened. Hades sent Kindly Ones when he had found out about Thalia. That couldn't be a coincidence. Annabeth sure hoped Percy wasn't another child of Zeus. She heard sounds like Grover and Chiron were getting up. She ran to the porch and quickly sat on the railing.

When Grover walked out, he looked pretty nervous.

"Hey, Grover."

"H-h-hi Annabeth." He mumbled, and then quickly ran off to the forest.

Chiron came out next, and stood next to where she was sitting.

"What's up with Grover, Chiron?"

"The demigod he's found, he's pretty powerful."

"How powerful?"

"So powerful that I have to go to the school to see for myself." Chiron stated, and that cleared everything up. They sat in silence for a while, watching some campers play volleyball.

"Chiron?" Annabeth asked after a while.

"Yes Annabeth?"

"This is about the great prophecy isn't it?"

"I fear it might be, but don't tell anyone. We don't need panic until we are sure."

Annabeth couldn't sleep that night. She thought about what Chiron and Grover had said, and about the things the other satyrs were saying.

All she could gather was something big had been stolen, and Annabeth was pretty sure Percy was being blamed.

**A/N: Two chapters left… This was kind of a short story-type deal anyways. If you have anything to say, feel free to leave a review.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Well guys, this is it (Other than the epilogue of course). I hope you liked reading my story as much as I liked writing it. Don't worry, this isn't my only fanfic, and I have so many ideas that if you liked this, you should like them too. Check out some of my other stories. My story about Leo is similar to this, and I have plenty of one shots up too.**

Outside of the camp borders, it was storming hard.

Annabeth was sitting on the porch railing of the Big House, something that had become more frequent in the past year.

In the distance, she saw a figure trotting up the hill. Annabeth only knew one person that trotted.

"Hello, Annabeth." Chiron said when he got to the porch. Annabeth hugged him.

"Hey Chiron. How was teaching?"

"Interesting. Mortals are very strange."

"What about the demigod Grover found?"

"Ah, yes. He is very powerful. A fury attacked earlier in the semester, but I managed to manipulate the Mist to keep him safe."

"A fury? So he," she pointed to the ground, "knows?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Is Grover bringing him to camp?"

"Yes. They should be here shortly, do you mind waiting here for when they come? Just in case something bad happens."

Annabeth thought back to the night she got to camp. If this kid was as powerful as Chiron said he was, he might have monsters following him.

"Sure, Chiron."

Annabeth sat for hours on the porch. She had only gotten up twice; Once to get a plate for dinner, and once to get a book from her cabin. She had tried reading; she even talked to Luke for a little while when he came to check on her. Luke had seemed a weird combination of nervous, proud, and angry when he was talking, and Annabeth had tried to come up with explanations for his behavior, but her mind began to fill with questions and worry for Grover and this Percy.

_Where are they? Chiron said they'd be here by now.._

She saw an unusually thick bolt of lightning strike the trees, and then the sound of metal ripping and crashing filled the air. Annabeth figured that lightning had hit the car that Grover and Percy must be in.

_Please let them be okay.._

Then, on the hill she saw shapes moving. One was obviously a satyr, who Annabeth assumed was Grover; there was also a boy, around her age, who was probably Percy, and a woman, who she assumed was Percy's mother.

Then she saw the monster.

_Holy Zeus, _she thought, _That's the Minotaur!_

She watched the battle, wishing she could help, but Chiron had given her instructions not to move until they crossed the border, no matter what.

_Please make it, Please make it.._

She looked away for a minute after she had basically watched the Minotaur squeeze the life out of Percy's mother. She could imagine what he was feeling, if it was her, she might have lost the battle because of grief. If his mom had been trying to help him into camp, she imagined they were pretty close. But instead of grief, watching his mother disappear seemed to have filled him with anger.

Annabeth watched as he jumped onto the Minotaur's head, and if that wasn't amazing enough, he broke the horn off. Percy landed on the ground, got and one knee, and rammed its own horn into its side.

Annabeth was in shock; this kid looked like he had years of camp training, but according to Chiron, he still didn't even grasp the fact he was a demigod yet.

_He has to be the child of the prophecy…No one is that natural of a fighter. Not even Luke._

She watched as the Minotaur disappeared. Then Percy grabbed Grover, who had been knocked out, and dragged him across the border.

Then he collapsed.

"Chiron!" Annabeth yelled. Chiron came over, slung her on his back, and ran up to where the two were laying.

"I'll try to get Percy, you try and wake up Grover."

"Grover." Annabeth said, slapping him lightly on the face. "wake up."

Grover's eyes shot open at her voice, and she helped pull him up.

"Ugh, what happened?"

"Well your little friend over there just killed the Minotaur, and then collapsed over here. Now come on, help me and Chiron get him." She said so nonchalantly, Grover's eyes widened like she was kidding.

He helped her drag Percy, half conscious, onto the porch of the Big House while Chiron got a bed and supplies ready for him in the infirmary.

"I'm going to go get the horn." Grover said when Chiron came back out.

They both leaned over Percy, Chiron in wheelchair form. Annabeth shot him a look that said_ why?_ Chiron's look said _He knows me this way._

Out loud she said, "He's the one, Chiron, he must be."

Percy's eyes opened.

_Holy Aphrodite,_ Annabeth thought. It was the boy she had seen years ago in her dream. _And he's kinda cute.._

"Silence, Annabeth." Chiron said, noticing his eyes had opened. When Percy closed his eyes again, Annabeth and Chiron brought him into the infirmary.

"I'll watch him, Chiron." She volunteered. She was still thinking about the dream she had had, now certain that he was part of it, and it was important.

"You'll have to feed him ambrosia. That should help him wake up sooner."

"Got it, Chiron." She said, and Chiron left the room.

She looked back at Percy, again. She grabbed a spoonful of ambrosia, and tried to put it in his mouth. It felt like trying to feed a stubborn baby.

She had a feeling that this was definitely the child of the prophecy she had read when she was ten. Even though she didn't have a special sense like that satyrs, she almost thought she felt power radiating off him.

Annabeth decided to give him the cold shoulder when he woke up, just to keep him humble, and so she could see what he was like. It was also part of her defense mechanisms she had built up over the years. She didn't let anyone in until she completely trusted them.

But inside, she was completely impressed.

She laughed as he slept because he was drooling and mumbling.

_Behold the amazing hero,_ she thought with a smile, and gave him some more ambrosia.

**A/N: keep your eye out for the epilogue! I'll probably post it later or tomorrow at the latest.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Oh my gosh guys, I didn't even realize I hadn't uploaded this yet. Sorry! This is the epilogue! Enjoy.**

The day Thalia came back was probably the second happiest day of her life.

She had been standing on guard duty, checking to make sure that the Golden Fleece was working properly. She still couldn't get over the shock that Luke could poison Thalia's tree. It just made her feel that he was being brainwashed and controlled by Kronos. There was no way he would ever do that on his own.

Annabeth was lying on the ground in her armour, staring at the leaves in the tree. It looked so pretty when it was healthy.

Annabeth almost fell asleep when a golden light shined.

She jumped up and pointed her sword in the direction of the light.

What she saw next both made her happy, and scared her to death.

Thalia was lying on the ground, unconscious.

"Chiron!" she screamed, running into the Big House. She was panting.

"What is it?"

"Fleece… tree… Thalia… alive.." she panted out.

Chiron understood. He followed her out the door and up the hill. It was late, but there was still plenty of campers around, and they were wondering what was going on.

They passed Grover. "Grover, go get Percy and bring him to the tree." Chiron instructed, and Grover ran off.

Seeing Thalia made Annabeth freeze. Percy came running up, sword drawn, but a look of confusion passed on his face when he noticed Annabeth.

He ran up to Thalia, and yelled at everyone for just staring at her. Then Thalia opened her eyes.

Seeing Percy talking to Thalia made Annabeth so happy.

Her two best friends in the entire world were talking to each other.

It also made Annabeth realize how Luke could poison the tree. He knew, somehow, he wasn't going to kill Thalia. Annabeth was certain he knew they would get the Golden Fleece.

He could poison the tree, knowing that Thalia would come out alive.

ooOoo

The happiest day in her life was when she started dating Percy.

When he had kissed her back after they shared his cupcake, she felt like she was floating on cloud nine.

When he had made an air bubble in the bottom of the lake, and for the first time, kissed her first, she took back every single mean thing she had ever said about Aphrodite.

That morning, she had just watched a boy she look at as an older brother, a role model even, die to make the world right. She knew in her mind that she would never forget Luke, but being with Percy finally made her feel right.

She remember what her mom had told her, that one day someone would come along and stay with her; Annabeth knew, that day, she had finally found that person.


End file.
